Nutraceuticals:  Modern Day Medicine

                        Nutraceuticals:  Modern Day Medicine

Dr. Shveta Singh¹, Dr. Abhishek  Mishra² , Dr. Jayashree Sarma³, Dr. Nripendra Singh⁴

Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara, Guwahati., AAU, Assam.

Ph.D. Scholar, Division of Livestock Products Technology, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar , Bareilly, U.P.

Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara, Guwahati., AAU, Assam.

Ph.D. Scholar cum Project Fellow, Department of Veterinary Anatomy & Histology, C.V.Sc. & A.H., OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Nutraceuticals

The word “Nutraceutical” is a combination of two words i.e. “Nutrition” and “Pharmaceutical”. Nutraceuticals are the dietary supplements which helps to prevent diseases, fortify our health and cure certain diseases. It is a well-known fact that herbs and plant extracts have established potential to treat various ailments. Nutraceuticals may range from herbal extracts, nutrient supplements, fortified foods to genetically modified functional foods. They are generally consumed in form of pills, capsule and syrups. They generally function as immunity booster, anti stress, anti-inflammatory, anti ageing, anti-diabetic, anti-arthritis, anti-cholesterol, anti-cancerous, painkillers, gut health promoter etc. Commonly used nutraceuticals which are very popular in market are Vitamin B complex, calcium enriched orange juice, unsaturated fatty acids, ginseng, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and selenium, omega 3 fatty acids, glucosamine. One very successful example in India is incorporation of iodine in table salt for prophylaxis and cure of goitre.

• Prebiotics and probiotics –probiotics improves gut health by directly increasing the useful microbiota. They have immune-enhancive effect due to their zinc and high bio-active peptide content. The prebiotics are the insoluble fibres (resistant fibres) which serves as food for microbes in the gut of monogastrics (human, dog, cat etc). The milk-based probiotics are beneficial in cases of old age people, lactose intolerant population and milk allergy prone mass.
• Phytochemicals and herbs – curcumin and turmeric acts as chemo-preventive and suppress tumour development. Plant sterols and fibres act as cholesterol lowering agents. Alpha lipoic acid helps to improve cellular glucose metabolism by increasing insulin sensitisation of the cells. Theobromine and Resveratrol acts as vasodilator and anti-inflammatory agents respectively and is helpful in the patients of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Anthocyanin and vitamin E acts as anti-oxidant and acts as anti ageing; they are generally used as aloe vera gel, amla juice. Likely to them, are: green tea, essential oils (like anise oil, nutmeg oil, caraway oil etc) which not only enhances food flavour but also are antimicrobial and anti oxidative.
• Unsaturated fatty acids- omega-3 fatty acid, omega-6 fatty acid and conjugated linolenic acid are some of the poly unsaturated fatty acids that are very beneficial in brain development, semen health, and acts as “good cholesterol”. They also acts by cell signalling mechanisms so regulate gene expression, protein synthesis and long-term endocrine regulation.
• Fruits and pectins-fruits have ample active ingredients which supports body by enhancing detoxifications mechanism, controlling free radicals, immuno booster and by improving epithelium health. Resveratrol in blueberries have found to inhibit cyclo-oxygenase 1 enzyme and posses anti-viral and neuro-protective action. Zeaxanthene in corn, egg, yolk, broccoli, kiwi, lettuce have found to improve vision disorders. Moringa plant has enormous health benefits: their leaves are high in protein content and also acts as hepato-protectant and antipyretic.

The use of these food products is increasing at a handsome rate. With awareness, its public acceptability has grown. The terms often referred as medicinal foods, functional foods, designer food, smart food, Pharma food, dietary supplements, all comes under nutraceuticals. The incorporation of nutraceuticals as a part of our daily diet should be popularised; as it will not only help us to cure diseases but also prevent their occurrence, finally protecting the health resource and enhancing our nation’s economy.

References

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